Must-Have Items (and more) for the Kitchen

When it comes to cooking in the kitchen, I do a pretty good job of getting the job done, but I definitely couldn’t do it alone. The items in this list are ones that I canNOT live without, with a few exceptions (some closer to the end are definitely luxuries). These items specifically apply to the Healthy Choice Food Challenge that I am launching alongside my friend, Chef Kara Gambrel, on June 20. Honestly though, if you are in the kitchen a lot, or want to be, these items will just make your life easier.

1. Water

Let’s face it – plain old water gets boring. In the #HealthyChoicesFoodChallenge, we will be giving you some options for making that boring old water more fun, so the following may be helpful:

If you don’t want to diffuse your own, I’m a huge fan of HINT water. I get it delivered once a month so that I always have something available. Right now they even have a KICK & HYDRATE special running where you get my Sweat UNLIMITED DVD, an athletic headband, 1 case of black raspberry Hint Kick™, and 1 Hint® variety pack (3 watermelon, 3 blackberry, 3 crisp apple, 3 pineapple.

I would highly recommend taking advantage while supplies last. Go to HINT to shop now. You’ll see the Kick & Hydrate Bundle when you get there.

2. Mandolin Slicer or at least an awesome Knife

As I’m sure you can imagine, vegetables are a key component, to the #HealthyChoicesFoodChallenge, so you’ll need to have something that makes chopping easy.

I just purchased the OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicerfor 39.95. They have a handheld one, Mandolin Slicer by OXO, that’s cheaper at $14.99 but with 2 young kids and not a super experienced hand, I wanted something that would stay put and close up safely. There are tons of fancy shmancy ones but one of these is all you really need.

If you don’t want to bother with the slicer, just make sure you have a really good knife. This is the one I’ve been using most recently:

3. Storage Items: Mason Jars, Tupperware and/or Plastic Bags

If you follow me on social media, you know I love Mason Jars for so many reasons (watch HERE), so that’s going to be my first recommendation, but they probably won’t work for everything in the #HealthyChoicesFoodChallenge, so you’ll want to make sure you have some good Tupperware and plastic bags for storage and food prep.

6. Blender of some kind

I love my Vitamix because I can pretty much use it for everything. The one I have is HERE. If you’re looking to save money and you get the 20% off coupons from Bed, Bath & Beyond and purchase one there (That’s what I did – it’s great savings!)

7. Luxury Items

I only recently purchased these because I’ve been making a lot of some of the recipes included in the #HealthyChoicesFoodChallenge. You can definitely live without these but they do make your life easier and more fun!